Draft:Owha

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TODO: Add phone app.

Biography
Owha was first spotted off Dunedin in 2012. Since 2015 she living on the east coast of Northland, Waitematā Harbour in Auckland, Dunedin, the Bay of Plenty and Whangārei. In 2016 local hapū Ngāti Whātua ki Ōrākei gave her the name "He owha nā ōku tūpuna", or Owha for short, meaning "treasured gift from our ancestors".

In September 2019 after Owha was seen foaming around her mouth, it was noticed that she had a foreign object stuck in her mouth. This was not the first time it had happened; in previous times the objects cleared naturally. Later, in a seperate incident in October, Owha was found with a bleeding face. Three separate vets said that it appeared to be caused by a gunshot wound. In attempt to find the suspect, a $5000 reward was offered by conservation group Sea Shepherd. She recovered from the incident. It was reported in December that the Department of Conservation could still not figure out who attacked Owha.

She came back to Northland in early 2020. Authorities discouraged people from posting her location online, to avoid large gatherings of people around her, which breach COVID-19 lockdown rules. After an earlier visit in Auckland, police were called to break up a crowd around her.

In April 2022 fishing hooks, a fishing line and sinkers were removed from Owha's mouth using a long pole with scissors on the end.

Stuff wrote that Owha has a "highly inquisitive behaviour and penchant for destroying fenders and popping inflatable dinghies". She also sometimes floods dinghies by putting her head in them. According to the Department of Conservation (DOC), Owha is "the longest tracked leopard seal in the world". Owha has a "a V-shaped scar on her left cheek and parallel scars on her right side". Is often in Auckland's marinas, and likes sleeping on pontoons.

The Department of Conservation placed several signs around several Auckland marinas often occupied by Owha, which explain how to stay safe near her. This is also done by the Herald Island Boating Club.

Attracts crowds when she lies on pontoons.

Length of 3.1 metres and weight of 400kg.

"She was resident in Auckland waters from September 2015 to March 2017, and spent much of 2017 moving between Whangārei and Tutukaka."

List of marinas. Westhaven Marina is her "favourite".

Fishing hook lodged in a flipper in 2017.

Because leopard seals are known to be dangerous when threatened, DOC urges people to keep a distance of at least 22 m away from Owha.

In 2022 Leopard Seals NZ made an April Fools' joke saying that she became a mother, but this did not happen.

Owha encouraged Krista Hupman to research the presence of leopard seals in New Zealand. She and LeopardSeals.org (which she co-founded) gathered over 3,000 sightings records from newspapers, museums, a new hotline and Māori middens, as well as three records of births on the mainland. Following this, DOC reclassified leopard seals from a vagrant species in New Zealand to residents.

Criticism
People have expressed concerns about Owha causing injuries to pets or children after she was filmed killing and eating a fur seal. They have also been concerned about her tendency to pop inflatable dinghies and cause damage to other equipment; Owha has caused several thousand dollars in damages. Due to these concerns, people have suggested that Owha be removed from Waitematā Harbour. The Department of Conservation and a biologist from NIWA have said that relocation would be too risky as a tranquiliser could kill Owha, due to a dive reflex seals have which stops them from breathing. The Department of Conservation have also said that Owha would likely make her way back to the harbour.

In 2019 DOC said that they would start trialling ways to get rid of Owha from the Westhaven Marina, starting by using light and then moving to sound and hose water as a last resort.